About Us
Find out about our core values and team at Gateway Church
Our Core Values.
Preach the Gospel
To share the life-giving and life‐transforming message of Jesus Christ to everyone in our immediate and surrounding communities.
Make Disciples
To assist members of the fellowship in every way possible to develop and grow in the faith they have chosen to follow.
Love One Another
To model a Biblical pattern of local fellowship, where members don’t exist in isolation but thrive as a vibrant spiritual family, bound by genuine relationships, caring for one another, serving together and collectively pursuing Kingdom objectives.
Serve the Community
To be a powerful witness of the love and power of Christ to the community we live in, on a day-to-day basis, by caring for the sick, providing for the needy, comforting the hurting, healing the broken hearted, giving hope to the hopeless, befriending the lonely, embracing the rejected, and offering support to those who cannot manage on their own.
Church Eldership
Pastor Chris & Lyra Vaz
Chris and his wife Lyra joined Gateway in 2012 after being Associate Pastor in a thriving church in Wembley. Both were born and raised in India and came to Britain as missionaries in 2006. They have two beautiful daughters, Eliza and Daniella, who are very quickly learning the Welsh way of life.
Chris has a particular gifting in leadership training and teaching God’s word. He serves as area Leader for AOG South Wales, part of the New Wine Wales National Leadership Team, part of the Leadership Development team for AOG GB, as well as offering spiritual support and input to various church leaders and leadership teams.
Lyra serves as Church Care Coordinator and her pastoral heart is a real example to learn from.
Phil & Angela Johnson
Phil and Angela have been a part of Gateway since 2014. Phil heads up our Intercession, New Christians and Q&A Apologetics departments, is a regular preacher and along with Angela do an immense amount of pastoral care within the fellowship. Angela is an accomplished violinist, playing in a local orchestra and Phil enjoys singing in a local choir.
Steve & Sarah Thomas
Steve became an elder in 2013 and balances running a design business as well as a young family. He also enjoys surfing, mountain biking and bouldering. Sarah is one of our worship leaders.
Phil & Sue Hopkins
Phil is our longest serving elder, having been part of the eldership team for over 15 years. He is also a big Cardiff City fan. Sue serves on our worship team and is also one of our trustees.
Stewart & Apryl Clark
Stewart is our Assistant Pastor. Having moved to the UK from South Africa, he is bi-vocational and leads our Connect Groups ministry, as well as serving in other areas of the church. Apryl is from Memphis in the USA and was a senior leader at the YWAM base in London for over 12 years. She is part of our Prayer, Youth and Connect Group teams.
Haydn & Belinda Dwyer
Haydn and Belinda have been part of Gateway since its beginning. Haydn became an elder in 2011 and oversees the Pastoral Care ministry. Belinda is an active member of the Food Bank in Abergavenny and is our Registrar.
Staff
Natalie Jones
Natalie takes care of all the cleaning duties at both venues. She is married to our caretaker Rhys.
Aaron Foley
Aaron has been on staff since 2017, co-leading all our community work, overseeing our Community Cafe and a growing team of volunteers. He is married to Steph who serves on our worship team, and they both have a young daughter.
Aled Williams
Aled has been a part of Gateway for many years and alongside his strategic and invaluable role overseeing Operations, he is also one of our worship leaders. He is married to Kim, is a dad, as well as granddad, and still manages to find time to tinker with the latest gadgets.
Rhys Jones
Described as the oil that keeps the building running, Rhys is our caretaker looking after both our venues at gateway. Whether it’s repairing broken doors or getting different spaces ready for ministry, Rhys serves tirelessly behind the scenes making sure everything is ready to go. Rhys is bass guitarist in our worship team and an ardent rugby fan.
Helen Cox
Helen joined our staff in October 2021 as Children & Young Families Leader. She has a vision to see children encounter God in a powerful way, to grow strong in their faith and to reach their generation for Jesus.
She is also a Trustee, a member of the worship team and co-leads a Connect Group.
Kerrie Wilson
Kerrie joined our staff in April 2021 after several months serving in various roles as a volunteer. As well as taking care of all the church admin, Kerrie is also our treasurer.
Lyra Vaz
As well as being Pastor Chris’ wife, Lyra is our Church Care co-ordinator, overseeing pastoral care. She has a heart for people, and helping reach their potential to be who God made them to be.
Damian Heward
Damian Heward is our Youth Pastor. He is a husband, father and life long Liverpool FC supporter. A youth worker for more than 20 years, he’s passionate about cheerleading this generation as they realise and take their front line place in the church, setting the culture in their spheres of influence.
Nick Hopkin
Nick joined our staff in Autumn 2022 offering admin support to Pastor Chris Vaz. He oversees our Creative & Media team at Gateway, and is the drummer in our Worship team. He is married to Lisa and has a large young family.